Day: January 5, 2018

The monthly unemployment rate in the Brussels Region went down for the 38th consecutive month in December 2017, and now stands at 16.4%, Actiris reported on Wednesday. Youthful unemployment measured on a monthly basis decreased for the 55th consecutive month, and is now 24.3%, the regional employment service added. The number of jobseekers in Brussels was 91,091 last month, a drop of 894 (-1%) compared to November 2017 and 5,645 units (-5,8%) lower than in December 2016. The drop was more marked among jobseekers under the age of 25 years:…

Bulgarian President Roumen Radev vetoed on Tuesday an anti-corruption law demanded by the European Commission claiming that the law is ineffective. “I believe that the adopted law not only does not create an adequate legal basis for tackling corruption but will even make it difficult to fight it,” the president stated yesterday, the day after Bulgaria took over the rotating EU presidency. According to Transparency International, Bulgaria, the poorest EU member, is the country with the highest perceived level of corruption in the EU and has not improved its score…

Belgians continued to save their money during 2017 despite the current low interest rates according to an overview of different banking institutions. In search of better returns, however, bank customers are also turning towards investment products. At BNP Paribas Fortis, the market leader, total assets in saving accounts amounted to 58.45 billion euros at the end of 2017, a slight decrease compared to 2016. This, according to the bank, can be explained by the conversion last year to regulated saving accounts for individuals with non-regulated accounts. At KBC, savings amounted…

Solcor, a start-up founded by two young Belgians from Western Flanders, has installed solar panels on Chile’s presidential palace, its chief executive officer and co-founder, Steven van Cauwenberge, announced on Wednesday. Solcor, also co-founded by Alexander Decock, won the Start-up Chile prize, a competition for young entrepreneurs, in 2014. With its year-round sun, Chile is the perfect place to install solar panels. Because of the risk of earthquakes, nuclear reactors cannot be built there. This is why the Chilean Government decided to focus on renewable energy, which already comprises 19%…

EU

Plans to take back control of UK fisheries the moment Britain leaves the EU appear to have been abandoned in the face of united EU opposition, dealing a significant blow to the ambitions of the environment secretary, Michael Gove. Gove put repatriating control of fisheries at the heart...